ADELAIDE INTERNATIONAL GUITAR FESTIVAL

In reply to Mrs REDMOND (Heysen—Leader of the Opposition) (21 June 2012).

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health and Ageing, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for the Arts): I have been advised of the following:

1. The financial performance of this event has improved, because its program has been strengthened and its format has been changed.

Artistic Director Slava Grigoryan's involvement in the planning and the new four-day format for this festival have helped to generate strong support from patrons and sponsors.

Through his own national and international touring, Mr Grigoryan has been able to negotiate potential appearances with top-level artists around the world. Subsequently, the program can now offer rare performances that will not be repeated beyond the festival.

These steps have helped the festival to achieve its goal of increasing interstate and overseas tourism (from 3 per cent in 2008 to 13 per cent in 2010). The four-day format has also meant that artists can be contracted for the entire event, thereby allowing innovative collaborations between them, and improvisations. There were over 16,000 attendances (ticketed and non-ticketed) to the last festival, held in 2010, and it achieved widespread media coverage and critical acclaim.

Thanks to Slava Grigoryan's well-received program and the excellent media coverage, this event achieved a $23,500 better-than-budgeted result in 2010.

The fourth Adelaide International Guitar Festival will be held from 9 to 12 August 2012.

2. It was announced in March 2009 that the Guitar Festival would become a biennial event. Funding currently provided by the state government for this event is $500,000 every two years, not $750 000 a year.